Cashew Masala

Cashew masala is one of my favorite summer time curry. This is usually made with fresh raw cashew, since I can't get fresh raw cashew here this is the alternate method I use to get the same taste here in US
Ingredients:
Raw Cashewnut (Split)-1 cup
Green Chilli-2
Turmeric powder-1/4  tsp
Chilli  powder-1/4 tsp
Corriender powder-1/2 tsp
Shallots-4
Curry leaves-few
Coconut oil- 2 to 3 tbs
Coconut milk ( thick cream)-1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Method;
Pressure cook  cashewnut with the first 4 ingredients along with 2 cups water, a sprig of curry leaves and salt. Open the the cooker once pressure is released. Now remove the lid and cook till the gravy thickens. Add the coconut milk and cook till the gravy comes to a boil. We love the gravy to be thick so I let it thicken a bit more by letting it come to a rolling boil.  Mean while in a non stick pan fry the sliced shallots and remaining curry leaves with the coconut oil. Once the shallots are brown add this  along with the oil to the cashew masala and mix thoroughly. The Cashew masala can be had with rice, Chapathi, Appam or even with some bread.

Unniyappam

It is Vishu in Kerala tomorrow. It is the celebration of New Year and it marks the Sun entering the Aries in the Zodiac.  There are a lot of regional variations of how it is celebrated in different parts of Kerala. Thrissur area where I come from, we typically have Vishukatta for breakfast, a sadya including payasam for lunch. The other highlights of the day, especially for kids is the Vishukani  and kayneettam in the morning. In my place we typically have the elders giving the younger ones money as kayneettam, wishing for a prosperous year. But what I  have heard from some of my friends from Southern Kerala is that along with the kayneettam, the kids are also given unniappam, which is also part of their Vishukkani. Hence an unniyappam recipe form me for this Vishu.

I had previously blogged another recipe for Unniyappam, but the ingredients of this are slightly different and the preparation time is a bit longer.
May this Vishu bring happiness your way.
Have a great Vishu.

Ingredients:
Sona masoori rice-1 cup
All purpose flour-1/2 cup
Jaggery/Brown sugar -1/2 to 3/4 cup
Banana-1 ripe or 2 if its small in size
Coconut-1/2 cup grated
Sesame-1 tsp
Baking soda- 1/2tsp
Salt-a pinch
Ghee- for frying
Cardamom and dried ginger powder-1/2 to 3/4 tsp
Method:
Soak rice for 3 hours,grind to a fine paste with as little water, powdered jaggery(use good quality jaggery or brown sugar) and banana.Mix in the all purpose flour, the batter should be thick as an Idlli batter or cake batter.Keep this overnight or 6 to 8 hours for fermenting. After the fermenting add rest of the ingredients except ghee and mix well. Heat an unniyappam pan and add ghee to the indention  ( you can add a few drops of sesame oil first and top it with ghee if using a nonstick pan this will prevent sticking) fill it  with ghee only half way.Now pour the batter and cook at medium heat, at about 2 minutes turn the appam and cook the for another 2 minutes till unniyappam  turns golden brown all over. Remove them and have them to your hearts content.

Potato Stew/ Ishtu

Today we had some friends home for  brunch. So I thought of treating them to a traditional appam and stew as this is something though typical Indian/ Kerala dish can be made not too spicy also to suit the non-Indian palate.  This stew goes well with chapathi, puri, puttu, idiyappam and even with bread. What I have shared here is the standard recipe with the normal spice levels; but if you want a milder version just reduce the number of green chillies in the recipe.
Ingredients:
Potato-3
Ginger sliced/diced -1 tbs
Onion -2 sliced
Green chilly-5
Curry Leaves-2 Sprigs
Thick Coconut milk-1 cup
Thin Coconut Milk-1 cup( If using canned coconut milk add 1/2 cup water to 1/2 cup coconut milk to make thin coconut milk)
Water-1/2 cup
Salt -to taste
Coconut oil-1 tbsp
Garlic- one finely chopped (optional)
Method
Pressure cook diced potatoes with enough salt , thin coconut milk and water for  2 whistle or 2 minutes after putting the weight, set this aside.
Heat one tbsp of oil  and  add onion,ginger,green chilli,garlic and 1 sprig of curry leaves and sauté till the onion turns translucent. To this add  cooked potato and mix well let it simmer for about 5 minutes
Add  thick milk , when the curry comes to a boil  switch off the stove and add  the remaining  curry leaves and close the pan for few minutes . Check the salt and if the curry is too thick  dilute it with some hot water.

Kinnathappam Malabar Style (with eggs)

Kinnathappam is a favorite of mine - especially the Thrissur version of it. The typical Thrissur kinnahtappam is made with rice flour and it is something that can be made with no planning ahead. I was initially a little hesitant to try this as this had egg also in it as an ingredient. Why go for one more ingredient when you can have yummy kinnathappams without it?
But when I served the Thrissur kinnathappam's to my friend who was visiting, she told me that though she liked it, the Malabar kinnathappam that she is used to was also nice and it was almost like a jelly and kids would surely love it, especially  if served cold after refrigerating it for a while.
I tried this during the summer and it was different as she said and tasted nice also with a different feel to it - almost like tender coconuts, or jelly like.  If you haven't tried this, and if you like jelly like, melt in the mouth desserts, it surely is worth a try.
Ingredients:
Sona Masoori Rice / Basmati rice - 1 cup (or any raw rice)
Water-1/ 2 cup
Egg-1
Coconut Milk - 2  cups (thick)
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar- 1 cup
Cardamom- 4  (powdered)
Ghee - 1 tsp
Ghee roasted almonds/cashews and raisins-1/4 cup

Method:
 Soak the rice for at least 3 hours.Make the rice into a fine paste with 1 cup coconut milk ,sugar,salt  and egg using a blender or grinder.( if your blender takes a long time and usually heats up the batter use cold coconut milk) Whisk in remaining coconut milk and water Strain with a cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer strain this one more time. Add the powdered cardamom. The consistency of the batter would be that of milk if it is too watery add some all purpose flour(maida) and if too thick add more water .
 Heat water in a steamer. In a greased  steel plate or cake pan  stir the batter well and pour the batter into the greased plate,place  in the steamer , the thickness of the batter should be 1 and 1/2 inch( I had enough batter for two). After steaming for 5 minutes add the nuts and raisins and steam for another 25-30 minutes.
 Take the pan out of the steamer and let it cool. Cut into desired shapes and serve. Repeat the same with the remaining batter to make another plate of Kinnathappam.
Makes two 9" Plates

Pavakka/Kaipakka/Bitter gourd Kondattam Easy'N Healthy

Today I thought of sharing an easy, healthy and quick recipe for Pavakka/Kaipakka Kondattam. Typically making  kondattam  is a long process; the veggies  used  are marinated and sun dried and the process needs to be repeated for a few days. The veggies preserved as kondattam are later fried in oil before they are used. In this quick version there is no frying and no waiting for days before it is dry enough to fry. So if you are longing for some quick and healthy version without compromising the taste, I would recommend trying this. I am sure you will surely fall in love with this. 

Ingredients
1 medium size - Bitter gourd
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 to 3 tbsp - Greek Yogurt / Sour cream
1/8 tsp -Hing Asafoetida
2 tsp -Oil
salt to taste

Method
Cut bitter gourd to thin round rings. Mix all the ingredients together. Grease a microwave-safe plate. Arrange bitter gourd on the plate in a single layer. You will need to microwave for 9 to 11 minutes. depending on the power of your microwave. Don't cook for 9 minutes at one go. Cook for 2 minutes, stop, stir the rings and repeat for 2 minutes  for four times (8 minutes in total). Now microwave for 1 minute   then check if bitter gourd is crisp. If not microwave for 30 seconds and check if needed repeat another 30 seconds. My bitter gourds were crisp at 9 minutes.

Pazha Pradhaman

It is the Onam season again! Onasamsakal to all my friends who are celebrating Onam!
If you are in Kerala during this time of the year, you would be seeing bananas (or plantains as they are called in the US) in every shop and in every house. This is the season for nenthrappzham - it is used for making banana chips, paysam, pazham varattiyathu, sharkara varatti, pazham nurukku and in many other forms.
Here is a delicious payasam recipe using bananas to sweeten your Onam this year.

Ingredients :
Ripe banana/Nenthrappazham- 3
Jaggery -  300gm
Ghee : 5tbsp
Dried Coconut Slices -1/4 Cup, cut into thin slices
Cashews - 1tbsp
Raisins - 1tbsp
Roasted cumin Powder / Dry ginger and cardamom powder- 1/2tsp
Thick Coconut milk - 3/4 Cup
Thin coconut milk -3 Cups

Method:
Make a syrup of jaggery  by adding water and filter the syrup and set aside.
Pressure cook the skinned bananas and keep aside to cool. Mash the cooked banana, there should not be any lumps.
In a heavy bottom vessel, heat 3tbsp of ghee and golden fry the dry coconut slices, cashews and raisins ,set this aside. Add the mashed banana along with the remaining ghee along cook till it starts to thicken. Now add the jaggery syrup. Keep stirring when it becomes the consistency of fruit jelly add 2 cups of  thin coconut milk. When it start to boil add cumin powder( if you prefer the aroma of cardamom and dry ginger add it instead but at the end.) mixed in the remaining 1 cup of thin coconut milk. When the pradhaman stats to get thick remove from the stove and add the thick coconut  milk . Finally garnish it with the fried coconut slices, cashews and raisins. Pazha Pradhaman tastes best when cold.

Elai Ada

Elai ada is made as an offering on Uthradam  and Thiruvonam day to Lord Vamana and the King Mahabali. Today being Atham, the beginning of Onam festivites  and also being Ganesh Chaturthi, I made this delicacy as an offering to Lord Ganesha. Elai ada can be made with rice flour also. The method for making it with rice flour is the same as that of making the Modak covering posted earlier. The method posted today uses ground rice, I find Ada made this way softer and tastier.

Recipe Adapted from: Ammupatti's thought
Ingredients:
Fresh grated coconut: 2 cups
Jaggery: 1 and 1/2 cups
Cardamom powder:1/2 tsp
Ghee:1tbs
Raw rice: 1 cup
Parboiled rice: 1 cup
Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp
Banana leaves- I used 9 pieces ( 8x8 inch pieces)
Salt: a pinch

Method:
Soak the rice for 5 hours and grind to a thick smooth paste. Add the salt . It should be of spreading consistency. Add the oil to this paste and mix well.

Make a syrup using the jaggery. Now strain this syrup and add the coconut to it this. Keep stirring and cooking until all the water is absorbed.  At this stage add the ghee and stir till  the contents leave the side of the pan. Remove from fire and add cardamom powder.

Trim off the tough side of the leaf, run the leaf quickly over a flame to soften it and make it more pliable. When it changes from dull to shiny, it is soft enough.

Now take each leaf, spread a ladle full of rice flour as a thin layer. Now, spread 2 tbsp of prepared filling on top of this layer, but covering only about ¾th of the layer. Fold the banana leaf into half, place it in a steamer. Repeat for all the leaves, and steam for 25-30 minutes. When it is done, the Ada should not stick to the leaf when opened.

Milk Halwa

I had been away travelling the past two weeks. So on my come back, I thought of re-starting with a sweet treat. This milk halwa is quick and easy to make, yet there is no compromise on taste.
Recipe adapted from A Tasty Challenge
Ingredients:
Milk-3 Cups
Milkmaid-1- 14 oz can/ 397 gm can
All Purpose Flour-3/4 Cup
Tapioca Flour-1/3 Cups
Sugar-2 Cups
Ghee-.1 Cup
Cashew Nut pieces-1/3 Cup
Cardamom Powder-1/2 Teaspoon
Method
Dissolve Flours in 3 cups of Water and strain it into a wide pan.Mix in milk milkmaid and the Sugar Put this on  medium heat and stir continuously till thickened.
When you are able to see the bottom of the pan while stirring.Add the Ghee and continue cooking. Once it starts to leave  the sides, add Cashew nuts and mix well.
When you see small droplets of Oil  oozing out and the Halwa is coming together as a mass, mix in the Cardamom Powder.
Remove it into an oiled pan and level the top off with the back of an oiled spoon.
Let it sit at room temperature and cool completely before cutting it into pieces and serve at room temperature.

Avalose Podi

Avalose podi is a very common and popular snack from Kerala. As the name suggests, it is a snack in the powder form. Avalose podi has a long shelf life, hence it can be made in bulk and stored. This is usually eaten with sugar along with or without banana. I also know people who take this with their coffee or tea. Nowadays, it's readily available in shops, but trust me, you will surely love this homemade version more than the store-bought one.

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 1/2 kilogram
Coconut (scraped)- 1 full
Shallots-1-2 minced very fine
Salt a pinch
Cumin seed / Jeera- 1 teaspoon
Black sesame seeds- 1&1/2 teaspoon

Method
Soak rice in water for 4 hours, drain it, dry it and make it into coarse powder.I used my food processor and it was just perfect.  Scrape coconut and keep it aside.
 In a wide mouthed bowl, mix the rice flour, scraped coconut,shallots, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, and salt.  Rub it nicely with your fingers and mix it nicely.  Keep it aside for 1 hour.  (Take care the rice flour should be dry)After one hour, heat a heavy bottomed pan or kadai.
 Add the rest of the cumin seeds and black sesame seeds and roast it.  Then add the mixture and roast it nicely till the color starts changing  to light brownish color at a low heat.
 As soon as it is done transfer the contents to another bowl.  Otherwise it will get over cooked by  the heat of the pan.
In case you have lumps sift the flour through a sieve (a bigger one) and then grind the bigger pieces that are left.  Fry that well and mix it with the fried avalose podi.
Allow it to cool and then store it in an airtight container.
 Serve it with sugar and bananas.

Palpayasam

Wishing you all a very Happy Vishu!
Here is an easy recipe for making a delicious payasam to sweeten your Vishu celebration.
Ingredients:
Whole Milk - 3& 1/2 cups
Water-1/2 cup
Basmati rice - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup according to your preference
Butter-1tsp
Cardamom powder - generous pinch
Method:
Boil the milk,water and sugar in the pressure cooker. Wash the rice. When the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to the lowest gas mark and add the rice.  Place a small spoon or a small shallow plate inside the cooker so that it will do the stirring action when the cooker is shut. Stir the contents well and close the cooker. Place the weight on the valve when steam escapes and allow the payasam to cook on a low heat. Switch off the stove after 20 minutes. Open the cooker when possible and add the butter and cardamom stir for a few minutes your delicious, creamy payasam is ready. 

Flavored Puttu and Varutharacha Kadala Curry

Puttu is a very popular Kerala breakfast dish.It's usually made up of ground rice and coconut which is steamed in special moulds.Here is a flavored version of Puttu. Though not the traditional one, this has become a favorite of us all off late.
Though puttu can be served with many different curries, and even with just bananas, one of the most popular combination is that of puttu and kadala (black chana).

Flavored Puttu

Ingredients:

Roasted rice flour - 1 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup for layering
Cumin seed - 3/4 tsp
Shallot (sliced)-1/4 cup
Salt Water - to taste

Method:
Take rice flour, coconut,shallots and cumin seeds in a bowl and mix well.Add salt to the water and mix it with the rice powder. The mix should be not too wet, nor too dry. If you take a little of the mix and press it between your fingers it should hold its shape without being sticky. In case it is too dry, add more water little by little, mixing thoroughly. Put the powder in the mixer or a food processor and whip it for 3 seconds (not more, as otherwise the powder will turn to a dough like form), till the powder is in a bread-crumb form.
 If you are using a puttu maker, line it with a spoon of grated coconut and fill the remaining potion with the prepared powder. If you don't have a puttu maker, you can use a steamer instead. Just line it with the remaining coconut and spread the rice powder over it and steam it for about 4 minutes.

Kadala Curry:

Ingredients:

Cooked Black chana/ kadala 2 cups
Grated coconut ½ cup
Garlic 2 cloves, sliced
Red chilly powder ½ Tbs
Coriander powder 1 Tbs
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Cinnamon-2  1" piece
Cardamom-2
Fennel seeds-2tsp
Mustard-1/4 tsp
Coconut slices-1/4 cup
Curry leaves a few
Onion-1 big
Ginger-1 small piece
Tomato-1(optional)
Salt as needed

Method:
Heat a non stick pan at medium high flame and add the grated coconut, garlic and curry leaves. Saute this until the coconut starts to slightly change its color to light brown. Reduce flame and add red chilly powder, turmeric powder ,coriander powder ,cinnamon,fennel and cardamom. Saute again until raw smell from the powders are all gone. Switch off flame and allow the mixture to cool down. Grind this to a smooth paste adding little water, if needed. Take a pan add 1 tablespoon oil and when hot splutter the mustard in it and then saute the coconut pieces . When coconut turns light brown add onion ,curry leaves and ginger. When onion turns slight brown add tomato and saute till oil separates or you can skip adding tomatoes and add the cooked chana along  with  the water its cooked in and ground coconut. Cook this for another 10 to 15 minutes at medium heat till the gravy thickens to your liking.

Kappa Puzhukku

Kappa (kasava/tapioca), is something that brings about nostalgic memories of Kerala for most Malayalees.
So whenever I miss a piece of Kerala, I pick this out at the supermarket, but most of the time I pick up the frozen ones as these are easier to work with. There are different ways of cooking Kappa, but this one is the preparation that we make most often.
Ingredients:
 Kappa (tapioca) - 500gm
 Grated coconut - 1 to 2 cups ( If you love more coconut add 2 cups)
 Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
 Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp
 Green chillies - 3 to 4
 Garlic-2 cloves
 Small onions - 1
 Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
 Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
 Coconut oil - 1 table spoon
 Salt
Method:
 Cut the tapioca into small pieces. Bring a big pot of water to a boil.. Add tapioca pieces and close with a lid. When the tapioca is 3/4th done, drain the water. Dissolve 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder in 1/4 cup of ware and pour into the tapioca Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes,
 Grind coconut, 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder, cumin seeds,garlic and chillies in a grinder for 10-15 seconds. add this to the tapioca. Cover and cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes. Mix with a spoon.
 Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Fry thinly sliced onion and curry leaves . Add this into the tapioca and mix well.
 Recipe source: Paakam
Ingredients for onion chamanthi
Shallots-1cup
Red chilli-6
Tamarind-1 tsp
Coconut oil-1tsp
Salt to taste
Curd-2tbs
Method:
Crush onion and chillis in a mortar or a food processor. Add salt and mix. Keep half of this aside
Add tamarind to one half of onion- chilli mix, add coconut oil and mix well. One chammanthi is ready.To the other portion add curd and mix you have another delicious chamanthi ready.

Aval Payasam

Hope all my Malayalee friends had a great Onam!
I tried making this new payasam for this Onam. What I liked best about this recipe is that it is so easy to put together. So even when you are in the middle of making a full course "sadya" you can pay little attention to this and still end up with a delicious payasam.  You don't have to wait for the next Onam to try this, you can try making it the very next time the urge to have something sweet strikes you!

Ingredients:
Medium thick white Aval (Flattened rice)  – ¼ cup
Milk – 3 cups
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
Ghee  – 2 tbsp
Sugar – ¾ cup to 1 cup
Cashew and raisins -1/4 cup

Method:
Fry the Aval in  1 tbsp  ghee  in a pressure cooker when aval turns crisp add the sugar. Once all the sugar melts (At this point you can take half the aval and crush it lightly) add milk into the Aval .Stir and let it come to a boil. Place the lid of the cooker and the whistle, and turn the heat to low flame. Let it cook for 25 - 30 minutes . Cook it for some more time until it thickens to the consistency of payasam. Meanwhile fry the cashew and raisins in ghee and add this along with cardamom to the payasam.

Semiya'N Dal Payasam with Jaggery & Coconut milk

In Kerala, where I am from, we do not typically celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi with the same pomp and festivities as in the rest of India. But in our house we always have a little celebration on this day as Jai's birthday as per the Hindu calendar falls on this auspicious day and Aishwarya's the very next day. So as to mark this special occasion I made this simple yet delicious payasam. The payasam is a combination of vermicelli milk payasam(semiya payasam) and dal payasam made with coconut milk. I was again in a mood to experiment and ended up with this delight. So if you are in a mood to try something different from the traditional payasam this would be a good option.
Ingredients:
Vermicelli – 1/2 cup
Moong dal split - ¼ cup
Thick Coconut milk – 1 glass
Thin Coconut milk – 1 ¼ glass
Milk – 1 glass
Broken Cashews – ¼ cup
Raisins – ¼ cup
Ghee – 3 tbsp
Jaggery – 3/4cup (or to taste)
Water – 1 glass
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
a pinch of salt
Method:
Dry roast  moong dal  until you get a nice aroma of roasted dal. Immediately add water to the dal. Wash and pressure cook till well cooked. Make a syrup of jaggery using one cup water. Strain it to remove any impurities.Dry roast vermicelli and cook this in jaggery syrup, add more water if needed. Once vermicelli is cooked well add the cooked dal to it along with 2 tablespoons of ghee. Cook this over for about a minute.
Add thin coconut milk and combine well. When it starts to boil, Add the thick coconut milk and cook this for another 2-3 minutes  stirring continuously. Remove from the stove add the milk  and cardamom powder salt along with ghee roasted raisins and cashew.
If the payasam is too thick for your liking you may dilute it using more milk. Check the sweetness when adding more milk, add more jaggery syrup as needed.

Wheat Puttu

We always used to get the best home made rice flour to make puttu, courtesy to my parents and in-laws. But the puttu powder that we bring back from our trip to India would not last till the next visit, as we tend to make puttu quite often. It was difficult for me to adjust to puttu made with the store bought puttu powder. So to make my precious home made puttu powder last longer, I started experimenting with other options.
Since we get good quality wheat flour here in the US, I first started experiemting with it. But my first few attempts were not up to the mark. Then I came across this nice recipe which proved to be a winner.
Recipe source: Kerala Kitchen
Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Coconut, grated - 1/2
Salt - to taste
Water for mixing.
Method:
Sieve the wheat flour and salt together. Sprinkle water (very little) on the flour and mix it gently(wheat tends to form a dough easily with water so do not pour water only sprinkle little by little). The flour should be wet enough for steaming. Put wet flour in the food processor and pulse it just for a second or two. It'll help the small lumps to break apart and form a nice wet powdery texture . Now mix half of the coconut to the flour and mix it. put two teaspoon of grated coconut in the puttu maker and then add the flour mix.If you don't have a puttu maker, you can use a steamer instead. Just line it with the remaining coconut and spread the flour mix over it and steam it for about 4 minutes.

Appam

It had been a hectic couple of weeks for me and I didn't get much time to blog for the last many days. I had been setting up an Art Show of my student's projects at the elementary school where I teach art. It was a real back-breaking work setting all that up. But it was highly rewarding to see the beaming faces of the students and their parents.
Seeing an inactive blog, some of my friends were even asking me whether I stopped cooking altogether :-). No worries there. I had been cooking and experimenting as usual, as it is a way I unwind even on the busiest of days. But I was not getting time to sit down and type the recipe.
This recipe is  different from the one I had posted earlier, which uses powdered rice. If you live in a place where it is difficult to get the powdered rice, this is a good alternative. In fact now that I started making it, I feel that this is more like the traditional appams in which the raw, powdered rice is used.
Ingredients
Raw rice(sona masoori) – 1 cup
Cooked rice – ½ cup
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Salt to taste
Yeast – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbs or to taste
Method
Soak the raw rice for 4-6 hours.
Grind to a smooth batter adding the cooked rice and grated coconut and enough water.
Add the yeast,sugar and salt.
Mix well and keep it covered for 3 hours or till the batter doubles in quantity
Give the batter a stir,add more water if the batter is too thick-it has to be of pouring consistency.
.Heat Appachatti or a pan and  pour 1/4 cup of batter into it and rotate the appachatti and cover and cook for about 2 minutes in medium heat. Once the middle portion is cooked, remove the cover and cook for another 30 seconds uncovered .Remove from fire and serve with stew or curry of your choice.

Gothambu Payasam /Broken Wheat Payasam

Vishu is here and I am sure that any Indian celebration is incomplete without a payasam or kheer. So here is a delicious gothambu(broken wheat) payasam from my kitchen to yours. With all the best wishes for an auspicious Vishu and a bright and happy year ahead!
Ingredients:
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1and1/2 cup or to taste
Thick coconut milk -1  cup
Thin coconut milk-1 cup
Milk -1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts - 10 - 15
Coconut slices-2 - 3 tbsp
Raisins - 10-12
Ghee - 1 tbsp +2 Tbs
Method:
Pressure cook broken wheat with 3 cups of  water for 2-3 whistles. It should be cooked well.Open the pressure cooker when the pressure releases.Stain the excess water completly.
Meanwhile make a jaggery syrup using  1/2 cup water and jaggery. Strain it to remove any  impurities. Pour this is to the cooked wheat and along with 2tbs of  ghee.  Cook this while stirring for about 2 minutes or till jaggery is almost dries up. Add thin coconut milk and stir continuously and when this starts to boil add the thick coconut milk along with milk . Keep stirring and simmer till the payasam becomes thick. Now add powdered cardamom.You can add a pinch of salt to bring out the taste.
Heat 1 tbs ghee and fry cashews, coconut slices and raisins. Add this to the prepared payasam. If you find the payasam thick  once it cools , you may add some milk to get the desired consistency.

Kozhukatta

Kozhukkatta is a traditional south Indian snack, which is basically a steamed rice dumpling. There are different versions of Kozhukkatta, depending on the type of the filling. The filling can be either sweet or savory.  For this particular version, I have used coconut and jaggery mix as the filling.
The Christian population of Kerala traditionally makes this for Easter. I found some references that say that this is to commemorate the stoning of Jesus Christ on his way to the cross - and that these represent the stones. But being the peace loving person that I am,  I prefer to believe that this is a local version of the Easter eggs. Hence I shaped them like Easter eggs and not like rocks.

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 150 gm
Crushed Cardamom - 2
Water - 1 &1/4  to 1 &1/2cup
Salt to taste
Method
Heat a pan and melt the jaggery with 1/4 cup of water and strain the jaggery with a strainer.
Reheat the jaggery. Add grated coconut and keep stirring until it turns to thick consistency. Add crushed cardamom and remove from fire.Keep this aside
Boil 1 1/2 cup of water with salt. Pour the boiled water to the rice flour little by little and mix it with a spoon. Keep it aside till it is warm enough to handle
Knead the dough and make it into a soft ball. Make medium size balls out of the dough. Take one ball at a time and place it in your greased  palm and  flatten it gently to a circle, and keep about  1 tbs filling and bring all  together and seal it by pressing ends.Now roll it back it into a ball or an egg as I did.
Repeat this with the rest of the dough and filling.
Steam the balls or kozhukatta for 10 minutes on a medium flame. Keep it covered for 2 more minutes.

Mulaku Baji/Mirchi Baji

When I was pregnant with Aishwarya I didn't have any cravings as such. But one day almost into my 8th month while out shopping  I saw a street vendor selling Mulaku/Mirchi baji outside the mall. So I asked my hubby dear if I could have it. My friends, can you guess what Jai did. No he didn't get me that. Instead  he gave me a big lecture on how unhygienically  it is being prepared and what it would do to me and the baby. To this day I hold this against him and poor fellow he is still looking for a way to compensate for that.
So if you or any one in your family is longing for some fiery mulaku baji  here ends your search.
Ingredients :
Banana peppers-5/8
1 cup  Besan/ chickpea flour
2tbs Rice flour
1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida
1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon Red chili powder
1/8teaspoon Baking soda
Salt to taste
Cooking oil to deep fry
Method  :
Make lengthwise slits on the sides of the peppers without splitting the pepper,remove the seeds see that you do not split the peppers while deseeding.If you are a person who has very little tolerance to hot peppers soak the peppers in hot salted water for 15 minutes.Meanwhile mix rest of the ingredients to a smooth batter the consistency should be that of dosa batter. Dip each pepper in the batter to coat well on all sides. Deep fry them in hot oil on medium heat until crisp and cooked. Once cooked remove from the oil and drain them in kitchen towel. Serve hot.

Uthappam

Whenever I prepare a batch of dosa batter, I typically make it as thick as possible. This way I can dilute it to whatever consistency needed for the specific dish I am making. I always make it a point to prepare the batter almost every week. Having the dosa batter ready and available in your fridge is a lifesaver as it opens up so many different possibilities of the foods you can make in a jiffy - dosa, paniyaram, masala dosa and uthappam. Uthappam itself you can make in so many different variations - like onion uthappam, tomato uthappam or a mixed uthappam like this one, not to forget the plain uthappam.
Of the different variations of uthappams, this particular one is my favorite. Hope you would all like this too.
Ingredients:
Dosa batter
Coconut-1/2 cup grated
Onion -1/2 cup sliced
Green pepper-1/2 cup sliced
Tomatoes -1/4 cup deseeded and  sliced
Green chillies - 2-3 (chopped)
Cilantro few (chopped)
Curry leaves - few (optional)
Oil

Method:
Mix onion,green pepper,tomatoes,chilli,cilantro and salt and set aside.
Heat a pan when a it is hot pour a ladle full of the batter onto the hot pan and slightly spred if needed  it should be thick like a pancake.Sprinkle coconut over the batter. Now add the mixed veggies over  the coconut sprinkled batter. See that you do all this immediately after pouring the batter before the batter starts to cook.Drizzle a tsp of oil around the uthappam. Cover the uthappam and  cook for 4-5 mins on low heat.When golden brown, turn drizzle a few drops of oil around the uttappam  and cook for another minute.Serve with chutney of your choice or just tomato ketchup.